Lincoln Inspired celebrates first birthday with music bash

Lincoln Inspired will celebrate its first birthday with a special performance from music patron, Elliott Morris on November 1.

In May this year, Lincoln Inspired attracted more than 5,000 people to a festival full of books, comedy, music and the general arts.

Inspired is a not-for-profit organisation, and relies largely on business sponsorship and public donations in order to meet its running costs.

This November, the team will launch a series of fundraising events to help with the costs of staging the second Lincoln Inspired from May 6-11.

On November 1, it will kick things off with a Birthday Bash at Lincoln Drill Hall.

This musical celebration takes place a year to the day since the festival was first officially launched.

Inspired music patron and local guitar hero, Elliott Morris (23) will be marking the festival’s first birthday with the launch of his own new EP.

Elliott will unveil Shadows and Whispers, which features arrangements of traditional songs as well as two of his own compositions, Eyes and Smoke and Mirrors.

He said: “It’s fantastic that the day of the worldwide release coincides with the Birthday Bash.”

As well as touring with his own music across the UK and Ireland, Elliott Morris feels privileged to be involved in bringing some great musical talent to Lincoln as part of the Inspired festival.

“It was great just being included in the festival but when I realised what it involved to be a patron I felt really honoured. It means a lot to me to be able bring artists to Lincoln and show the city some great acts.”

He will be performing alongside critically-acclaimed folk artists David Gibb and Elly Lucas.

The two BBC Young Folk Awards 2011 finalists have supported acts such as Cara Dillon and Jez Lowe.

Elliott said: “I am really looking forward to sharing the evening with David and Elly. We’ve played a few shows together in the past, including at a festival in Yorkshire earlier this year.

“They were very happy to get involved and I’m looking forward to playing with them again this weekend. It is going to be a great night, there is going to be a real party atmosphere.”

Festival Director Sara Bullimore added: “Our first ‘official’ birthday seemed a great excuse for a party and to remind everyone that we are aiming to present another, even better, Lincoln Inspired event next year.”

More fundraising events will take place over the next few weeks, including an evening with Inspired science patron and local author Paul Money at The Collection on Sunday, November 17.

He will be giving a talk and signing copies of his new Nightscenes publication for the coming year.

The Birthday Bash starts at 8pm and tickets, priced £8, are available from the Drill Hall Box Office on 01522 873894 or online at Lincolndrillhall.com.

For more information on Lincoln Inspired events, or about how you can get involved in fundraising or making a donation, visit the festival website at Lincolninspired.co.uk.